stephenson



I. a. STEPHENSON. BULLET CASTING MACHINE. APPLICATION FILED IAY l0. IQIB.

Patented Oct. 21, 1919.

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Patented Oct. 21, 1919.

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INVHVTOR.

T. B. STEPHENSON.

BULLET CASTING MACHINE.

APPLICATION mm MAY I0, 1918.

1 ,3 1 9,673. Patented Oct. 21, 1919.

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T. B. STEPHENSON.

BULLET CASTING MACHINE.

APPLICATION mm IAYIO. ms.

1,319,673. Patented Oct. 21,1919.

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f UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

. THOMAS B. STEPHENSON, OF FORESTVILI'E, CONNECTICUT, ASSIGNOB OF ONE-HALF 'I'O 1m 5. 'I'BUMBULL, OF BRIDGEPORT, CONNECTICUT.

specification.

the

T nunmr-cnsmamcnmn Specification of Letter! Intent.

. Patented Oct. 21, 1919.

Application filed Bay 10, 1913. Serial no. aaaaoa.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, THOMAS B. STEPHEN- SON, a citizen of the United States of America, residing at Forestville, Conn., have invented a new and useful Bullet-Cast ing Machine, of which the following is a This invention relates particularly to machines for casting bullets and is in the nature of an improvement on the machine disclosed in my co-pending application #114,320.

The general objects of the present invention are to provide a machine of simplified and improved construction and which will be automatic in its operation so as to require practically no attention.

In addition to the foregoing it is one of purposes of my invention to provide a ine which while simple, will be of rela- (great capacity and will in addition ily adjustable to meet various remacl tive y be rea quirements.

Briefly the invention comprises a sectional mold made 11 of coiiperating traveling mold sections ormed with an open casting channel in the top thereof and casting chambers in communication with said open channel, the molten metal being delivered into this open channel and flowing into said chambers to produce a rod with the bullets or other articles dependent therefrom. This rod is preferably guided at the point of separation of the mold sections and means are preferably provided for feeding out the same and for separating the cast portions de endent therefrom.

ther features and details of construction will appear as the specification proceeds.

In the accompanying drawings I have illustrated the invention embodied in a praes tical commercial form but with the under standing that various chan es and modifia cations may be made wit out departure from the true spirit and scope of the invenview of the mold substantially atthe casting point.

Fi 5, is a perspective view looking downwar on the mold sections substantially at the casting point.

Fig. 6, 1s a broken partly sectional view taken substantially on the plane of the line 66 of Fig. 2.

Figs. '7 and 8 are detail sectional views taken substantially on the planes of the lines 77 and 88 of Fig. 6.

Fig. 9, is a broken perspective view of the breaker mechanism for separating the bullets from the continuous rod.

Fig. 10 is a detail sectional view of the draw ng-out rolls taken substantially on the plane of the line 1010 of Fig. 2.

Figs. 11 and 12 are broken Ian and side VJBWS respectively of a sllg tly modified form of the invention.

Fig. 13 is an end view of a pair of the mold sections in this modified form.

Referring first particularly to Figs. 1 and 2, the sectional mold is made up of cooperatingxmold sections 15 and 16 carried by the lin s of two opposed endless chains 17 and 18, said chains being supported at opposite ends on sprockets 19-20 and 2122.

The mold sections are of special construction in that they are formed on their meeting or matchin faces with recesses 23 in communication %)y passages 24 with continuous longitudlnally extending recesses 25, the recesses 23 in the faces of the cooperating mold sections forming the casting chambers and the cooperating opposed longitudinally extending recesses forming a continuous open casting channel in communication with the casting chambers through the passages 24. As a result of this construction a casting is produced consisting of a continuous rod 26 with the bullets or other articles 27 dependent therefrom.

At the castin point the cooperating mold sections are hel closely enga ed by guides consisting in the present discfiisure of rolls 28 journaled in bearings 29 and yieldingly forced toward the mold chains by springs 30. To minimize friction, the chains may be provided with bearing rollers 31 for engagement with said spring-pressed guide rolls. To take up for wear and to enable the substitution of mold chains of d'liferent sizes, theguide rollers may be mounted in adjustable carriages 32 which may be shifted by means of adjusting screws 33.

The cooperating mold sections may be supported at the casting point by supporting rollers 34 journaled in a support 35 yieldingly mounted on springs 36 and guided vertically on the guide pins 37.

The coiiperatmg mold sections are mamtained in proper registry by means of intermeshing teeth on the opposed sets ofmold sections, said teeth consisting in. the present disclosure of projections 38 on the mold sections 16 meshing with the slots or recesses 39 in the mold sections 15. As shown in Fig. 5, each mold section is formed with two mold cavities and the intermeshing teeth are provided in the faces of the mold sections between each two mold cavities.

The intermeshing teeth on the two mold chains serve an additional purpose in the embodiment disclosed-acting to form a driving connection from one mold chain to the other. Thus in the illustration, the mold chain 18 only is power driven and serves, through the intermeshing connections described, to impart the necessary movement of the other mold chain. The driving of the first mold chain is eflected by extending the shaft 40 of the sprocket 21 downward and coupling it by universal joints 41 with an up-right shaft 42 carrying a worm gear 43 in engagement with a worm 44 on the power shaft 45. The purpose of the universal joints 41 in these driving connections is to allow for lateral adjustment of the sprocket 21 for different sized mold chains and for wear, etc., said sprocket being shown as mounted on a transversely movable carriage 46 shiftable by an adjusting screw 47.

From the construction disclosed it will be apparent that the power operated sprocket 21 will serve to draw the mold chain 18, and through the inter-meshing connections, cooperating mold chain 17 through the confining guides described, this construction also serving to maintain the coiiperating mold sections meshed in proper register at all times.

The other chain supporting sprockets 19-20 and 22 are also shown mounted on laterally adjustable carriages 48-49:!) and 50 which can be shifted by adjusting screws 51, 52 and 53. The adjusting screws 52 and 53 are referably adjusted to bring the opposed reac es of the two chains into substantial parallelism at this entrance end of the sectional mold so that said chains will pass easily in between the confining guides and the screws 47 and 51 may be ad'usted to spread the chains somewhat after t ey leave the confining guides.

spout 18 shown connected by a suitable conduit 56 with a kettle 57 in the melting furnace 58.

In order that the machine may be kept supplied continuously with molten metal there may be provided an additional melting furnace 59 having a melting pot- 60 in communication'by way of conduit 61 and valve 62 with the supply pot 57. With this construction the pig lead or other material is put in the pot 60 to be melted and the molten metal is drawn off from this melting pot into the supply pot 57 as needed. This enables the molten metal in the supply pot being kept at a substantially constant temperature. The supply pct 57 is shown provided with a main cut off valve 63.

At a point in rear of the delivery nozzle a dam element 64 shaped substantially to fit the open casting channel is supported so as to prevent the metal running backward. This dam has an easy sliding fit in the casting channel and in order that it may, in a sense, float in said channel, it is shown supported by means of a spring 65 coiled about one of the transverse stay rods 66 which connects the two mold closing guides. Also the rear end face of the dam is shown as beveled or inclined, at 67, so that said dam may adjust itself and ride over any scraps of metal, or the like, which may remain on the mold sections.

Artificial coolin means may be employed if desired to acce crate the congealin and cooling of the molten fluid and usualfi' the metal is cooled to a sufiicient extent for the commencement of the mold opening operation as soon as the mold chains leave the confining guides. Thus, as shown in Fig. 2, the separation of the sprockets 19 and 21 at the delivery end may be such as to cause the mold chains to commence to separate as soon as they leave the confining guides.

Separation of the cast product from the mold cavities is facilitated and insured by means of a tubular guide 68 supported substantially mid-way between the sprockets 19 and 21 and arranged to receive the cast rod, centralizing it and separating it from both mold chains. This tubular guide is shown supported on a cross bar 69 connecting sprocket supporting brackets 70, suitable adjustable connections being provided as indicated at 71 and 72 to allow for the transverse adjustment of the sprockets. This guide is shown as entered into the casting channel and entirely open at the'bottom at its forward end, as indicated in Fig. 7 and as having inturned supporting flanges 73 for the balance of its length. This construction tratcd and consisting of the enables the rod to pass easil into the forward end of the guide on the mturned flanges provide ledges engaging beneath the rod to support and guide the cast product.

As the rod with the bullets dependent therefrom asses onward and out through the guide, t e as b means of a-shower such as indicated at 7 The water from this shower may be collected in a pan 7 5 and used over and over again through the employment of a pump 76 and suitable connections.

After being sufliciently cooled the continuous casting is shown as assin another open tubular ide 7 similar to the one previously turned flanges for supporting the rod portion of the casting.

While thus su ported this guide, the

bullets or depen ent objects ma be se arated or stripped from the rod y sulta le means such as the yoke shaped element illusforked arms 78 mounted on the transverse slide 79 which is vibrated back and forth by an operating crank 80, the latter being driven for instance, by a suitable motor 81 and connections 82.

ious portions of the machine may be This'stripper or breaker ma be timed to break ofi one or more of the ullets in the stroke in one direction and to break off a corresponding number of bullets in the successive stroke in the opposite direction. The bullets as they are brokenpif may be permitted to fall hrough an opening 83 in the top of the table or support 84 into a suitable collection receptacle 85.

The continuous rod after the bullets are separated therefrom, the machine as by rollers 86 and 87, the first of those being shown as a toothed or corrugated roller driven by suitable aring connections 88 from pulley 89 andt e second being shown as mounted on the transversely movable slide 90 pressed yieldingly toward the driven roller by a 5 ring 91. The effect of this is that the ro is yieldingly gripped between the two rollers and fed out of the machine as fast as the casting operation promay be drawn out of var- P of the drawing-out ceeds.

Suitable driving connections for the vided. The pulley 89 rollers, for instance, is shown driven by a belt 92 from pulley 93 on a driving shaft 94 which also carries a pulley 95 connected by a belt 96 with pulley 97 on the worm shaft 45.

The operation of the machine is continuone and economical and need not, it will be seen, be interrupted for charging or any other cause. Also the machine may be operated at a high rate of speed, giving the machine a great out-put. It will be apparent casting may be further cooled the mold and on into described and having mmeans of the feeding-out V furthermore that the machine ma be read- 11y adapted and adjusted to mol s for different sizes and kinds of objects.

An im rtant advantage of the invention is that t e bullets are produced by a continuous operation and without any intermediate steps, the molten metal flowing into forming the bullets dependent from a continuous rodlor runner which carries the bullets along with it clear of the mold to a 'point where the bullets are automatically separated from said rod and are collecte ina suitable receptacle. Thus the separation of the bullets is in eifect, simply a part of the casting1 process and not a separate step. The mol construction, it will be seen, is of particular'value where it is deslred to cast a continuous rod with a series of objects de endent therefrom and it will be apparent t at if desired, such mold can be used for other purposes than the casting of bullets.

In working with softmetals, lead, I have found it desirable to se arate the gate or rod from the bullets while the bullets are still held in the mold. For this purpose I employ a knife such as indicated at, 98 in Figs. 11 and 12 supported on a bracket 99 and having a sharpened cutting edge projecti' into the mold channel at a polnt preferab y slightly in advance of the centers of the chain supporting sprockets. This knife thus shears the rod from the bullets while said bullets are still held in the mold chambers. The point of this knife, it will be observed, fits closely to the bottom of the mold channel although preferably it just clears the bottom of said channel so that there will be no wear on the mold sections and so that the knife will not be dulled by engagement with said mold sections. For this.

particular construction the mold channel may be formed with a flat bottom and the knife with a finely tapered angular. cutting through the slot 102 in said knife into the supporting bracket.

The severed or separated bullets may be guidedto the receiving receptacle as by means of a chute 10;! disposed with its receiving end beneath the mold chains at the point of separation -of the same.

I claim 1. In a casting machine, a separable mold comprising cooperating mold sections having registering recesses in the meeting faces thereof and channel portions in communication with the recesses and forming when the mold sections are engaged a channel in one side of the mold in communication with the mold recesses, means for delivering molten material into said channel, means for advancing coiiperating mold sections past said delivering means and a guide for the cast roduct entered into the casting channel escribed.

2. A combination like that set forth in claim 1, wherein the mold sections are separated at a definite oint in their advancement and wherein t 1e guide for the cast product is entered into the casting channel substantially at said point of separation of the cooperating mold sections.

3. A combination like that set forth in claim 1, wherein the guide which is entered into the casting channel is provided with shoulders engaging beneath the continuous portion of the casting formed in said channel.

4. In a casting machine, a separable mold comprising cooperating mold sections having registering recesses in the meeting faces thereof and channel portions in communication with the recesses and forming when the mold sections are engaged a channel in one side of the mold in communication with the mold recesses, means for delivering molten material into said channel, means for advancing cooperating mold sections past said delivering means and an open-ended tubular guide in line with the casting channel having spaced inturned flanges in the bottom thereof to engage beneath the continuous polrtions of the casting formed in said channe 5. In a castin machine, cooperating mold sections form with a continuous casting channel, means for delivering molten material into said channel, means for advancing the cooperating mold sections past said delivery means and a. dam yieldingly supported in said casting channel and provided with an inclined under surface in rear there of to enable the same to ride over fragments or particles that may remain in the casting channel.

6. In a casting machine, cooperating mold sections formed with a continuous casting channel, means for delivering molten material into said channel. means for advancing the cooperating mold sections past said delivery means, a dam fitting in the casting channel in rear of the point of delivery and means for yieldingly supporting said dam in said position.

7. In a casting machine, coiiperating mold sections formed with a continuous casting channel, means for delivering molten material into said channel, means for advancin the coiiperating mold sections past said de ivery means, guides for maintaining the coiipjerating mold sections closely engaged at t e point of delivery, a stay rod connectmg said guides and a dam fitting in the casting channel and suspended from said stay rod.

8. A combination like that set forth in claim 7, wherein the supporting means for the dam consists of a spring element coiled about the stay rod.

9. In a device of the character set forth, means for casting a rod with a plurality of objects de endent therefrom, means for advancing t e cast rod and means having a movement substantially transversely of the plane of the dependent objects for separatmg said objects from the rod.

10. A combination like that set forth in claim 9. wherein said separating means consists of a striker member vibrating transversely in the plane of the dependent objects.

11. A combination like that set forth in claim 10, wherein said striker is forked to receive the dependent objects.

12. A combination like that set forth in claim 10, wherein said striker is carried by a reciprocating slide.

13. In a combination like that of claim 9. means for guiding and supporting the cast. rod against transverse movement while the scparatin means is operating on the dependent o jects.

14. In a casting machine, a separable mold comprising, cooperating mold sections having registerin recesses in the to thereof forming a casting channel, means or longitudinal y advancing the mold sections and for separating said mold sections at a definite oint in their advancement and a guide for tie cast product disposed substantially centrally between the mold sections at the point of separation thereof, whereby to strip the cast product from both sets of mold sections.

15. A combination like that set forth in claim 14, wherein the mold sections are separable to an adjustable extent and wherein the centralizing ide is adjustable to suit the adjustment 0 the mold sections.

16. In a casting machine, coiiperating mold sections recessed to form an open casting channel in the top thereof and communicating casting chambers below said channel, means for ongitudinallv advancing and separating the mold sections, an open end tubular guide disposed in line with the casting channel to receive the rod cast therein, said guide having opposed inwardly extending flanges to support said rod and separated from each other to provide a throat for the objects cast in the casting chambers and dependent from the rod.

17. A combination like that set forth in emma claim 16, wherein the supporting flanges terminate short of the front or receiving end of the guide.

18. In a casting machine, cooperating mold sections having complemental recesses for forming a continuous rod with objects dependent therefrom, means for advancing and for separating the mold sections to advance the cast rod free of the mold sections, means for guiding the rod freed from the mold sections and an abutment adjacent said rod guiding means for engagement by the objects dependent from the guide rod for separating said objects therefrom.

19. In a casting machine, cooperating mold sections for forming a cast rod with articles dependent therefrom, means for advancing and separating the mold sections and drawing-out rollers engaging and frictionally gripping the east rod for feeding the same from the separated mold sections.

20. A combination like that set forth in claim 19, wherein the feeding rollers are yielding] y engaged with the rod and one of said rollers is power driven and roughened to more firmly grip the rod.

21. In a casting machine, cooperating mold chains, supporting sprockets therefor, means for adjusting one of said sprockets relative to one of the other sprockets and a power driven shaft for operating said adjustable sprocket provided with universal joints therein for permitting said adjustmeat.

22. In a casting machine, mold chains and cooperating engaging mold sections carried thereby provided with complcmental re- ('csscs for forming a continuous rod with a rtielcs dependent therefrom, means for advancing and separating the mold chains, 8. guide for engaging the cast product as it emerges from the mold sections, means for separating the dependent objects from the east rod, and d awing-out rollers for drawing out the rod from which the dependent articles have been stripped.

23. a casting machine, cooperating mold sections having a continuous casting channel-and mold chambers communicating therewith and a knife having its cutting edge entered in said casting channel to separate the material in said channel from the material in the mold chambers.

24. A combination like that set forth in claim 23, wherein the knife and mold sections are relatively adjustable for the purosc of setting the knife and casting channel in proper relation.

25. A combination like that set forth in claim 23, wherein the knife is relatively adjustable to fit the casting channel.

26. In a casting machine, cooperating mold sections having a continuous casting channel and mold chambers communicating therewith, means for advancing and for separating the mold sections at a predetermined point in their travel and a cutter entered in said casting channel at a position in advance of the point of separation of the mold sections.

27. In a casting machine, cooperating mold sections having a continuous casting channel and mold chambers in communica tion therewith and a guide having a sharp ened cutting edge entered in said casting channel.

28. In a casting machine, coiipcrating mold sections having a continuous casting channel and mold chambers in communication therewith, means for advancing the to operating mold SOCtlOhs and for separating the same at a given point in their travel and means entered in said mold channel at a point in advance of the point of separation of the cooperating se tions for separating the material in the casting channel from the material in the mold chambers.

29. In a casting machine, cooperating mold sections provided with mold chambers, means for advancing and for separating the cooperating mold sections and a guide chute adjacent the point of separation of the cooperating sections for receiving the articles from the casting chambers.

30. In a, casting machine, a separable mold comprising cooperating mold sections having registering recesses in the meeting faces thereof and channel portions in communication with the recesses and forming when the mold sections are engaged a channel in one side of the mold in communication with the mold recesses, means for delivering molten material into said channel, means for advancing cooperating mold sections past said delivering means and an open-ended substantially tubular guide in line with the casting channel and arranged to receive the cast product issuing from the mold sections.

THOMAS B. STEPHENSON. 

